pic: Christmas 1969 – My family, my big sister Fran holding me.
Maybe I love this story because my big sister gave me my
bicycle when I was a kid too. Even though she was a struggling college student,
she saved up and bought me my bike just before she left on her mission. I knew
it had been a sacrifice for her, and I cherished that bike and my sister for
the sacrifice she made to give it to me.
AN OLDER BROTHER’S GIFT – by Ada Foy
It was the Christmas season of 1994. Nine-year-old Jaron and
his six-year-old brother, Parker, were excited. They had entered a reading
contest sponsored by a grocery store in their hometown. The two students who
read the most books would each win a brand-new bicycle. All they had to do was
have their parents and teachers sign for each book they read. Two bikes were to
be awarded, one for the first-to-third grade levels, and one for the fourth-to-sixth
grade levels.
Parker was especially excited because this was a way for him
to earn a bike. He really wanted one. He was tired of watching his older
brother ride around on the new purple ten-speed bike he had earned by working
at a yard sale. Parker thought that it would be great to earn a bike of his own
by reading books. So he started to read books as fast as he could. He read
Curious George, Green Eggs and Ham, and Brown Bear, Brown Bear. But no matter
how many books he read, someone in his grade level had read more.
Meanwhile, Jaron had
not been all that enthusiastic about the contest. When he went to the grocery
store and checked the big chart with all the readers listed and how many books
each had read, however, he could see that his younger brother had little chance
of winning the contest.
Touched with the true meaning of Christmas, the joy of
giving, he decided to do for Parker what he could not do for himself. So Jaron
put away his own bike and, library card in hand, went to work. He read and
read. He read when he wanted to ride his bike. He read as much as eight hours a
day. The thrill of perhaps having such a wonderful gift to give kept him going.
The day came when the final lists were to be turned in.
Jaron’s mother took him to the store, and he turned in his list, then admired
the prize-winners bikes on display.
The store manager watched him admire the shiny red
twenty-inch bike. “I suppose if you win the contest,” the manager said, “you’ll
want the larger bike, won’t you?”
Jaron looked up at the man’s smiling face and said very
seriously, “Oh, no sir. I would like one exactly this size.”
“But isn’t this bike too small for you?”
“No sir—I want to win it for my little brother.”
The man was surprised. He turned to Jaron’s mother and said,
“This is the best Christmas story I’ve heard all year!”
Jaron’s mother hadn’t known that he had worked so hard for
his little brother. She looked at Jaron with great pride and joy as they went
home to await the contest results.
Finally the phone call came! By reading 280 books, Jaron had
won! With his parent’s help, he hid the bicycle in his grandma’s basement until
Christmas Eve. He could hardly wait to give Parker his gift!
On Christmas Eve, the
whole family gathered at Grandma’s home for a special family home evening.
Mother told the story of Heavenly Father’s gift to the world of His Son Jesus
Christ. Then she told the story of another older brother’s love. Although it
wasn’t the great sacrifice the Savior has made for each of us, she said, it was
a sacrifice, and it showed how much the older brother loved his younger
brother. Parker and his family listened to the story of a brother who had read
280 books to win his little brother a bike.
“My big brother would do something like that for me,” Parker
said.
At that, Jaron ran to the other room, where Grandma had
moved the bike. The rest of the family proudly grinned while he wheeled out the
two-wheeled treasure he had earned for his younger brother. Parker ran over to
the bike, and the brothers hugged over the top of it.
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